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This study compared the subjective quality of life (SQOL) in schizophrenia patients living with their families in Hong Kong (HK) and Beijing (BJ) and explored the relationship between SQOL and basic socio-demographic and clinical factors. Two hundred and sixty-four clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia were randomly selected in HK and 258 counterparts matched according to age, sex, age at onset, and length of illness in BJ. SQOL and psychiatric status were assessed with standard rating instruments. There was no significant difference in any of SQOL domains between the two cohorts after controlling for potentially confounding variables. Positive, depressive and anxiety symptoms and drug-induced extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) were all significantly correlated with SQOL. Multiple regression analysis revealed that only depressive symptoms predicted all SQOL domains in both groups. Having removed depressive symptoms from the model, positive symptoms predicted all domains, anxiety predicted all but social domains, use of benzodiazepines (BZD) predicted all but physical domains, EPS predicted physical domain, and history of suicide predicted social domain in HK; anxiety predicted all domains, positive symptoms predicted all but physical domains, EPS, use of BZD and history of suicide all predicted physical domains, and length of illness predicted environmental domain in BJ. Despite considerable differences between the two sites in terms of health care delivery and the economic conditions of the subjects, SQOL did not differ between HK and BJ. The conclusion is in line with previous studies that suggested that patients’ SQOL was independent of their living standard as long as it reached a certain minimum level. SQOL was more strongly related to the severity of depressive symptoms and had weak association with socio-demographic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: By analyzing the distribution of existing and newly proposed staging imaging features in pT1–3 and pT4a tumors, we searched for a salient feature and validated its diagnostic performance. Methods: Preoperative multiphase contrast-enhanced CT images of the training cohort were retrospectively collected at three centers from January 2016 to December 2017. We used the chi-square test to analyze the distribution of several stage-related imaging features in pT1–3 and pT4a tumors, including small arteriole sign (SAS), outer edge of the intestine, tumor invasion range, and peritumoral adipose tissue. Preoperative multiphase contrast-enhanced CT images of the validation cohort were retrospectively collected at Beijing Cancer Hospital from January 2018 to December 2018. The diagnostic performance of the selected imaging feature, including accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, was validated and compared with the conventional clinical tumor stage (cT) by the McNemar test. Results: In the training cohort, a total of 268 patients were enrolled, and only SAS was significantly different between pT1–3 and pT4a tumors. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the SAS and conventional cT in differentiating T1–3 and T4a tumors were 94.4%, 81.6%, and 97.3% and 53.7%, 32.7%, and 58.4%, respectively (all p < 0.001). In the validation cohort, a total of 135 patients were collected. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the SAS and the conventional cT were 93.3%, 76.2%, and 96.5% and 62.2%, 38.1%, and 66.7%, respectively (p < 0.001, p = 0.021, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Small arteriole sign positivity, an indirect imaging feature of serosa invasion, may improve the accuracy of identifying T4a colon cancer. Clinical relevance statement: Small arteriole sign helps to distinguish T1–3 and T4a colon cancer and further improves the accuracy of preoperative CT staging of colon cancer. Key Points: • The accuracy of preoperative CT staging of colon cancer is not ideal, especially for T4a tumors. • Small arteriole sign (SAS) is a newly defined imaging feature that shows the appearance of tumor-supplying arterioles at the site where they penetrate the intestine wall. • SAS is an indirect imaging marker of tumor invasion into the serosa with a great value in distinguishing between T1–3 and T4a colon cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]